Live
Stream Devo
April
17, 2020
Romans
12:9-18
Welcome to today’s devotion.
Let’s begin with a reading from
Romans, chapter 12, verses 9-18
Let love be genuine; hate what is
evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection;
outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in
spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering,
persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend
hospitality to strangers.
Bless those who persecute you;
bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with
those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but
associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do
not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight
of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably
with all.
Live peaceably with all.
Seems simple.
Yet, as the days continue and we
stay home longer and longer, that may not be as easy.
We may not be getting along with
our family as well as we did that first week.
If we are working from home, we
may rather be at the office, just for a day!
If we are still working,
especially in areas of interacting with many people, we may be worried that we
will contract the virus and bring it home to our families.
That may impact how we feel about
doing our jobs.
If we are no longer working, we
may have deeper rooted worries about what the next month, may bring for your
household budget, let alone the finances of our community or nation.
Gosh, I don’t know how this is
all going to pan out.
I wish I knew when things would
change, and how we, as a church, as neighbors in communities and how our nation
will come out on the other side of this.
We don’t know.
What we do know, is that we are
called to live peaceably with all.
And right now – even if finances
are impacted – and relationships are being tested…the best thing we can do is
stay home.
There, I said it.
Stay home, except for those
necessary trips.
I was Facetiming my sister on
Easter Sunday we talked about how hard this is.
My sister, brother-in-law and nephew have had some driveway visits from
friends and local relatives – where friends stand in the driveway and my
sister’s family stays on their porch. What
my sister noticed is how hard it is to say goodbye. She told my nephew, we only hug people who
live in our house. He’s 5.
Heartbreaking, right?
Yes.
But at the same time, it’s
lifesaving.
Let me say that again, the hard
things we must do now, break our hearts, yes, but are saving lives.
We can do these hard things.
Together apart.
Seems weird to say it that way,
but it’s the way to continue moving forward through this situation.
Together apart.
Let love be genuine.
Love one another with mutual
affection.
Rejoice in hope, be patient in
suffering, persevere in prayer.
Continue to be the body of Christ
at home.
Through phone calls, handwritten
notes, inspiring chalk drawings on the sidewalk or driveway. We can do this…together apart.
Amen.
And now for a few announcements:
Sunday – 9am Youth Led Worship
Daily devotionals at noon
continue next week – Monday-Friday.
Wednesday – Holden Evening Prayer
at 7:30pm
Thursday – Sing and dance with
Ms. Sarah’s choir at 6:15
If you are in need of food or
help running errands, please call the church, we can get you paired up with
someone to help you out.
If you would like someone to talk
to or would like to call people on the phone, let us know, we can get you
paired up for that as well.
You are not going through this
alone, we know we cannot be together at this time, and we miss you, we love you
and we are praying for you.
Let us pray,
Dear God, Thank you for loving
us. Thank you for patience, hope and
love. Help each of us to continue to
serve you by caring for our neighbors.
Help us to work together apart to care for one another in these times of
social distancing. Hold each of us in
your care, hold each of us in the palm of your hand….and don’t drop us. All this we pray in the name of your son
Jesus who taught us to pray,
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom
come,
thy will be done, on earth as it
is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our trespasses as
we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil,
for thine is the kingdom, and the
power, and the glory, forever and ever, amen.
And now receive God’s blessing:
May the
God of all steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with
one another…
May you
depart from evil and do good.
May you
seek peace and pursue it.
May you
go from this gathering wrapped in God’s grace now and forever.
Amen.
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